CHAPTER 21 THE FORSAKEN GAMBIT

The Forsaken Gambit

Darkness had never felt so cold.

Lyra sat motionless by the dying embers of the fire, her body trembling from exhaustion. The battle had ended, yet the storm inside her had not. She could still feel the raw celestial energy pulsing under her skin, threatening to consume her from the inside out.

But the worst part?

Eryx was gone.

Not dead. Gone.

She had seen his body lying motionless after the queen's attack, but when she reached for him—he vanished. Not like the Forsaken who turned to dust, but as if the darkness had claimed him.

Taken him somewhere else.

Alden's voice cut through her thoughts. "Lyra. We need to move."

She didn't answer.

Alden crouched beside her, his face bruised, his jaw clenched. "I know what you're thinking, but we don't have time to—"

"She took him," Lyra whispered, her voice hollow. "My mother. She took him."

Selene, who had been tending to Kael's wounds, looked up sharply. "If the queen wanted him alive, it means he's important."

Lyra's fingers curled into fists. "Then I'm going to find him."

Kael exhaled heavily, leaning against a broken pillar. "And how do you intend to do that? We barely survived tonight. That power inside you—you're not ready to control it."

"I don't care."

Kael frowned. "Lyra—"

"I said I don't care!"

The force of her outburst sent a shockwave through the ruined temple, causing dust and debris to rain down from above. The others stiffened, watching her with wary expressions.

Alden sighed, rubbing his temples. "We need a plan."

Lyra turned away, gripping the cold edge of her celestial mark. "I don't have time for a plan."

She had just gotten used to trusting Eryx, to believing he wasn't just some rogue with secrets. And now he was gone.

She wasn't going to lose someone else.

 The Whispering Realm

Eryx was awake.

And in hell.

Not literally, but close enough.

He was trapped in a place that reeked of forgotten magic, a void of swirling shadows and golden light that flickered between existence and nothingness.

His body ached, the queen's attack still burning through his veins like poison. He tried to move, but something pulled at him—something unseen, clawing at his soul.

"You should not have interfered," a voice murmured.

Eryx stiffened. "Who's there?"

A figure emerged from the shadows. Not the queen. Not a Forsaken warrior. Someone else.

A woman clads in celestial armor, her golden eyes reflecting the dim light like mirrors.

He knew who she was before she even spoke her name.

"I am Valora, the first celestial heir."

Eryx's breath caught.

Valora. The warrior from the original prophecy. The one who had fallen to the Forsaken centuries ago.

"You're dead," he said.

She tilted her head. "And yet, here we are."

The Queen's Real Plan

Queen Evelyne stood in the center of the forgotten court, gazing at the reflection of the stars in the enchanted pool before her.

She had waited too long for this moment.

Lyra had awakened. The celestial energy inside her had cracked open its shell.

And soon, she would take her rightful place.

A shadow moved beside her. "She will not come willingly."

Evelyne smiled. "She won't have a choice."

The stars shifted, rearranging themselves in the sky.

The final part of the prophecy had begun.